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In Syracuse schools, teachers deal with assaults, hundreds of physical altercations among students

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Jo-Anne Grandinetti, a special education teacher at Hughes School in Syracuse, has been out on workers comp since she was attacked by a student in March, 2013. She's shown with her husband, John, at their Baldwinsville home in this November photo.
(David Lassman | dlassman@syracuse.com)

Teachers and other staff members in Syracuse schools were caught up in 449 physical altercations with or between students over a recent 16-month period, according to data obtained from the district through a Freedom of Information request.

The data indicate that 73 of the incidents resulted in physical injury to at least one staff member.

In some cases, the altercations involved the adults being attacked by students; in others, the adults intervened to try to stop a student fight or disruption or calm a student. The district said it could not provide data showing how many of the incidents fit into each category, or how many of the staff members were teachers.

Meanwhile a separate set of district data -- workers' compensation claims -- shows 272 "student-involved incidents" in the 11 months between July 2013 and May 2014 that resulted in staff members receiving some level of medical care. Those incidents ranged from assault to accidental contact with a student, perhaps in a crowded hallway or classroom.

Twenty-two of the claims resulted in paid time off for staff members.

In combination, the two sets of data from the district provide a rough statistical snapshot of the environment inside the city's schools at a time when many teachers are saying the buildings are becoming more dangerous and unruly.

Teachers' concerns over school discipline and safety were a key element in the Syracuse Teachers Association's vote of no confidence in Superintendent Sharon Contreras last month.

At the same time, the state Attorney General's Office has concluded that the district suspends too many students and has routinely violated their rights by denying them due process.

STA President Kevin Ahern said the numbers from the district don't surprise him.

"They're in line with what teachers have been reporting anecdotally from the buildings for a long time," he said.

But school district officials argue that it is impossible to draw broad conclusions from the numbers. They stress that the data show a wide range of incidents, most of which are classified as minor altercations.

District employees filed 402 workers comp claims stemming from student-involved incidents from July 2013 through this past April, compared to 336 during the same period the previous year, but many of those claims did not result in medical treatment or time off.

Altercations and assaults

The Post-Standard and Syracuse.com filed the Freedom of Information request with the district on Feb. 20 -- six days after a meeting about school discipline at St. Daniel Church drew about 100 teachers. More than half the teachers raised their hands when asked if they had witnessed colleagues being hurt in confrontations with students.

The newspaper's request sought the number of teachers injured in attacks by students and the number injured trying to control students without having been attacked. It also sought brief descriptions of each incident, including the nature of the injuries. The request covered the period between Sept. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2013.

The district took nearly 11 weeks to provide a chart -- shown below -- that breaks down the 449 incidents by school. The district did not provide any dates or descriptions of the incidents, arguing that even if students' names were redacted, their identities could be revealed if summaries of the incidents were released.

In one response to an email from The Post-Standard seeking clarification of the data, Chief of Staff Kim Bradley wrote that "the term 'injury' is extremely subjective and can be misleading depending on how you choose to report it."

But in response to a further request for clarification, the district did provide some definitions that are used in Syracuse and other districts across the state.

Of the 449 incidents cited by the district, 376 -- or 84 percent, were categorized as "minor altercations."

Minor altercations can include "striking, shoving or kicking another person or subjecting another person to unwanted physical contact with intent to harass, alarm or seriously annoy another person, but no physical injury results," according to the definition provided by the district.

"Physical injury" is defined as "impairment of physical condition or substantial pain."

Seventy-two of the 449 incidents were categorized as assaults with physical injury, and one - at Hughes School -- was classified as an assault with serious physical injury.

Assault with physical injury is defined as an incident where someone "intentionally or recklessly" causes injuries such as "black eyes, welts, abrasions, bruises, black and blue marks, cuts not requiring stitches, and swelling. ... Substantial pain includes, but is not limited to, severe headaches, joint, or muscle pain."

Assault with serious physical injury includes attacks that create "a substantial risk of death or serious and protracted disfigurement or protracted impairment of health ..."

Variation among schools

The incidents -- spread over 29 schools -- average out to about 15 in each building. But they are not evenly divided. Only one incident was reported at Bellevue Elementary School, for example, compared to 50 at Frazier K-8 and 49 at McKinley-Brighton Elementary.

Likewise, Dr. Weeks Elementary had 14 "assaults with physical injury," and Porter Elementary had 10. Nine schools had none, according to the district data.

Patricia Clark, the district's director of pupil services, said part of the variation in the numbers may stem from differences in how each school reports its data. She said the district is working to make its reporting system more seamless and accurate.

"Any injury concerns me greatly," she said.

Ahern of the STA said it is the district's responsibility to explore the numbers and focus on the safety of schools with the most altercations.

He said he has seen no concerted, immediate effort to turn things around, such as training teachers in how to remain as safe as possible.

"I don't see any inkling of doing something serious at the building level to try to reduce these incidents," he said.

In response, district officials provided a list of 14 different teacher trainings they provide, ranging from classroom management strategies to behavior assessment programs to "crisis prevention intervention."

Ahern said some of those trainings are very good, but that they are not widespread and intensely focused enough to provide immediate help to most of his members.

Although the district did not provide any names or other details about the incidents, the one teacher injured in the "serious physical injury" category is likely Jo-Anne Grandinetti, who has been out on workers compensation since she was injured in a confrontation at Hughes School in March of 2013.

Grandinetti said she is still physically limited after being pushed to the floor by a seventh-grade girl and may require additional surgery on her back. She said she was not surprised by the number of altercations cited by the district, but was taken aback that there were not more in the "serious physical injury" category.

"I think any altercation with a teacher is a serious injury," she said. "... Any kind of interaction like that with a student, where the student becomes very abusive with the teacher, I think is a very serious incident."

Defining altercations, assaults

Of the 449 incidents that occurred in the Syracuse school district between Sept. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2013, and are shown in the chart below, 376 were classified as minor altercations, 72 were categorized as "assault with physical injury" and one was termed an "assault with serious physical injury." Here are the definitions of those categories:

Minor Altercation: Involving physical contact and no physical injury, with or without a weapon. Striking, shoving, or kicking another person or subjecting another person to unwanted physical contact with intent to harass, alarm or seriously annoy another person, but no physical injury results. Fights that do not result in serious physical injury or physical injury are reported in this category.

Assault with Physical Injury: Intentionally or recklessly causing physical injury (not serious) to another person, with or without a weapon, in violation of the school district's code of conduct. Physical injury means impairment of physical condition or substantial pain. Physical injury includes, but is not limited to, black eyes, welts, abrasions, bruises, black and blue marks, cuts not requiring stitches, and swelling. Substantial pain includes, but is not limited to, severe headaches, joint, or muscle pain.

Assault with Serious Physical Injury: Intentionally or recklessly causing serious physical injury to another person, with or without a weapon, in violation of the school district's code of conduct. Pursuant to Penal Law §10.00(10), "serious physical injury" means physical injury creating a substantial risk of death or serious and protracted disfigurement or protracted impairment of health or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ. Serious physical injury requires hospitalization or treatment in an emergency room and includes but is not limited to, a bullet wound, a serious stab or puncture wound, fractured or broken bones or teeth, concussions, cuts requiring stitches and any other injury involving risk of death or disfigurement.